The Lost Princess
by Monty the Kid
Summary: Orihime's brother wanted to stay with his little sister forever. Ichigo's insane amount of reiatsu causes problems. Her knight in shining armor is just a little too late. These events have altered her life. Her death has changed things.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I don't know if this has been done before (it probably has). It just was a little plot bunny that came to me from under my thinking chair. It seriously kept bugging me until I was forced to begin writing it.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH. Otherwise I would be a good artist. For everyone's information I can only draw stick figures. And they look derpy.

* * *

><p>She didn't know what had happened. One moment she was talking to Tatsuki, who had come over for tea, while the next she was staring at her body with a chain bound to her chest. Tatsuki was asking her body, or at least it looked like her body, if she was alright. She felt fine, she thought to herself, but started to look around. The room was normal, everything was in perfect order. The only things odd in the room were the ominous feeling she had and the chain sticking out of her chest.<p>

She was fascinated by it. Not knowing any better, she began to tug on the thing to see if it was really attached to her. Each tug brought uncomfortable amounts of pain into her body, originating at the base in her chest. Hmm, so she was chained to the body. Err…her body. Maybe she could pull out the chain from it? She kind of wanted to explore a little bit. And why hadn't Tatsuki said something about the two bodies? It seemed kind of obvious. Seriously, there were two of her in the room!

She reached out to give a light yank on the other body's chain. The pain was worse this time, but still nothing to terrible. It was like the hole she had when her brother died. It was like her heart had been ripped out, but healed, leaving the echo of pain from the memories.

That was when she noticed it. The oppressive feeling was right behind her. She turned to look.

"Little one?"

She knew that voice. It had haunted her, teased her, nearly broken her everyday since his death. He didn't look like him, the pitch was slightly distorted, it was more sinister while maintaining the tone she had come to trust absolutely.

"Sora-nii?"

He looked at her, truly looked at her. Her overwhelming joy to see him made him happy, but bitter at the same time. She only now cared. She had stopped her prayers for him, lost her love for her elder brother.

"It's really you?" she was barely able to speak through the tears, now beginning to fall.

"Yes, it is. It's been a while Imoutou," he spoke softly.

"I missed you. I missed you so much! I'm sorry, I love you Sora-nii! I love you, I don't hate you! I could never hate you!" she was crying and talking at the same time, making her rushed apology sound more like small bits of language slipped between the pauses in her sobs. She didn't care what he looked like, what had happened to him. Her brother was back. The last words she said to him weren't hurtful now! He came back for her!

He felt less bitter, less angry. It was wonderful. His only, precious baby sister. She really was only a baby. She still needed him. She would always need him, but she had grown up because of his absence. He wouldn't leave her again. No, she would always be with him. She would stay with him. They would be a family again. Together forever.

"Imoutou, would you like to stay with me?" he knew she would want to. He would cut the chain of fate. She would be a hollow, like him, but they would be together again. He would protect her. He would help her, like he had done in life.

"Really? You mean we can stay together? You can braid my hair like you used to? And you'll eat my cooking?" She looked up, hopefully. Begging him to say yes. To tell her that everything would be alright.

"I don't know about your cooking, I don't think I would like to suffer death twice," he chuckled behind his mask. His hand enclosed the chain linking her back to her human body. He just had to crush it. Then they would be together again. His baby sister would be back.

"I want to stay with you Sora-nii! Can you stay in the kitchen? Or could I make you a bigger bed?" she started rambling, excited to be getting him back.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with me. You see, I can't stay here long," he started, gripping the chain tighter in his claws.

"Oh, but what about my friends? Tatsuki-chan and Kurosaki-kun? I can't just leave them!" She started to protest, frowning. She looked for Tatsuki and realized she was carrying her body with her, presumably to take her to the Kurosaki Clinic.

The mention of those who had stolen her away, taken her affection from him sent him over the edge. He was her brother! Her family! The one who had saved her, even when she was a baby! These interlopers were going to try and make her stay. They were going to drive them apart.

He wasn't going to allow that. He could feel the shinigami coming. Coming to eliminate him and rescue her. He couldn't allow it.

In a split-second decision, he made his choice.

Without any regard to her thoughts or feelings on the matter, he crushed her soul chain.

Her world exploded in agony. Spirit particles warped around her as the encroachment began. It was sped up, though she didn't know it. The pain was so intense she wanted to, prayed to, faint. Yet she didn't. The enormous and uncontrolled reiastu of her hollow brother next to her and her would-be protector had ensured it would be quick, although agonizing.

Her chain was like a void, gulping rieatsu from hollow, gigai, and shinigami alike. Her chain devouring itself more rapidly then any hollow before her, burned and writhed as she began to twitch uncontrollably. She lost all sense of direction, became nauseous, and gasped, in shock from the pain.

She didn't even register the anguished cry of "INOUE!" her crush let loose upon seeing her.

She saw him as she wrenched her head to the side, trying to avoid the hurt plaguing her entire body. She wanted to tell him, at least before it was all over, that it wasn't his fault. He looked so tortured, so guilty, when he shouldn't have. Rukia had come in after him, petrified with a similar look on her face.

She tried desperately to push past the debilitating pain and tell them not to feel guilty.

It wasn't to be as the encroachment had reached the plate in her chest. She had thought the burning and tearing sensation was bad before. She realized she was wrong.

She let forth an agonized wail as it ate away the last bit of her humanity. It pierced through the night, shattering the windows in the small apartment. As suddenly as she began her cry, she was forcibly stopped. Liquid-white poured from her mouth and eyes, engulfing her face and changing her body. Her thrashing was soon the only outward indication she was in pain.

She however, learned a terrible truth. Pain is dulled during time and exposure. She would quickly grow accustomed to it, especially considering her level of pain tolerance. When she first began to change, she had almost mastered it to where she could speak, to where she could push past it for a moment to accomplish her goal. Then there was this. It was another type of pain entirely, drawing strength from those around it. Magnifying itself before she could gain any semblance of tolerance. The strain was unbearable on her, fragmenting her mind as she silently screamed into the air.

Those around her were beginning to feel the drain on their reiatsu, most notably Ichigo. Rukia, feeling the transformation was spurred onwards at such an alarming rate because of Ichigo's presence, began to usher him out of the house.

"There's nothing we can do for her now, Ichigo!" she screamed, trying to move him away from the scene. He stood there, shocked he didn't make it in time, hurting as she changed.

"But I can save her after, right? Send her to Soul Society?" He growled back, not wanting anyone he knew to suffer the fate of being a hollow. Especially not someone as kind as Orihime.

"You're making it worse Ichigo!" The short shinigami retorted, finally getting him to move towards the door.

"But- Rukia I-" he stuttered.

"There is _nothing_ we can do now," she regretfully whispered. "We're only making it worse now."

"Dammit. Fine. But we're gonna save her," he promised, knowing he wouldn't, couldn't, fail her a second time. He would purify her and send her to a better place.

"Of course, Ichigo. We will," she winced, looking back at Orihime, but steeled herself and dragged Ichigo away. He spared one last glance at the girl's body, then looked directly at her brother, disgusted. He couldn't imagine doing that to one of his own sisters and vowed to purify him as well.

Sora, on his part, had realized what he condemned Orihime to. He had realized what atrocity he had committed; he realized he had just killed his own baby sister. He was the reason she was in pain, was crying out, was being swallowed by the pasty white armor that came with being a hollow. He hated being unable to do anything, but knew he had made his mistake, and simply resigned himself to watch.

The white had covered her face completely, hardening and solidifying, despite her attempts to pry it off with her bare hands. She stopped, arms snapping down to her side, legs pointed straight, bound by some invisible force. She shuddered, then an explosion of reiatsu broke through the apartment. As the rubble and dust began to clear, he saw her form for the first time.

She was mainly bleached white like most hollows, but was smaller. She stood taller than most grown men and had little armor. Instead, she had a snowy cloak that covered her from the bottom of her neck to the very tips of her ankles, barely showing her tiny feet. Those however, were more feral, having claw-like nails and grey coloring. Her arms were lanky and long, with delicate hands attached to sharp, wicked looking nails. Each nail seemed to resemble a blade, long and dangerous, fading from the pure white of her cloak to a dull grey at the tip of the nail. They almost dragged on the ground as she simply stood there.

Six large orbs circled behind her head, detached from her body. Her mask was odd, even by hollow standards. It was a single piece, seemingly without eyes or a mouth. A single, thin, blood red line ran horizontally across the entire mask three-quarters of the way down, just below where her jaw would have been hinged. Her hollow hole was placed in her neck, allowing one to see the color of her hair through it. And her hair was longer than it had been in life, her auburn mane reaching the tip of her cloak. The few strands caught the last remnants of the explosion and floated around her for a few moments before falling back towards her body.

The spiritual pressure she emitted was substantial, larger than her brother's by far. While nowhere near the fully unleashed presence of her former crush's, her reiastu was much larger than many seasoned hollows. It intimidated her brother to know his baby sister was only freshly born, probably hungry from the transformation and clearly powerful. He wondered if it was still his little imoutou in that body and not a beast, driven by instinct and appetite.

"Imoutou? Little one?" he questioned.

Immediately the white spheres stopped their movement, one leaving the ring they had formed and moving towards her mask. It opened at what would have been eye-level to reveal a sickly yellow iris with black sclera moving about before settling on him as its focus.

"Sora-nii? What have you done?" She asked him. Her voice came out as it had before her transformation, as if she hadn't just screamed her vocal chords into exhaustion.

"Little one, you are a hollow now, just like me," he said. "We can be together forever now," he smiled. He may not have liked his decision, but he would lament over it later. For now, they needed to return to Hueco Mundo before the shinigami came back.

"A…hollow?" she was confused. Why did everything feel so different? She was lighter and had more energy. But there was this gnawing hunger, this need to eat, consume, and gobble down anything within range. Her brother was looking pretty tasty, actually…

No! She wouldn't! She loved her big brother. She was sure of it. They would be together. Always. But what was a hollow? Wait, she was a hollow, but so was her brother! Maybe they looked like twins?

"I'll explain later, Imoutou, but we need to leave," he opened a garganta as he spoke. The air parted as it revealed a gateway in the realm of hollows.

"You promise you'll explain?" she asked, peering though the portal.

"I promise little one."

With that the two hollows disappeared as a substitute shinigami and a former shinigami ran back into the apartment, desperately trying to stop them from escaping.

The garganta closed as Ichigo and Rukia caught a glance of the hollow Orihime had become.

She never heard the frustrated and heart wrenching cry of despair Ichigo let loose at failing to save her a second time.

* * *

><p>So, Orihime becomes a hollow and follows her brother into Hueco Mundo. I've heard of Ichigo actually becoming a hollow and such, but never Orihime. I mean, instead of eating her or attacking her friends, I would want to make someone a hollow so they could stay with me. At least, I would if I was thinking on a purely selfish basis.<p>

So, drop a review if you please!

Monty


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Here the chapter after the first one. Good stuff. Now, since I'm getting kinda hungry and this is a story about hollows, I shall proceed to go eat souls. Maybe just microwaved marshmallows that look like fluffy white souls. They just have a heck of a lot more sugar.

To clear up some confusion on the last chapter: Tatsuki cannot yet see hollows, shinigami, or pluses. She hasn't developed her spiritual power enough, but will in order to help storm Soul Society after the hollow competition between Ichigo and Uryuu. Ichigo was dragged away by Rukia because his spiritual pressure was causing Orihime's transformation to speed up and increase her spiritual power. She was sucking away his excess reiatsu to fuel her transformation. Also, has anyone ever purified a hollow/plus while the transformation is occurring? Does it always have to be a konso before or a battle afterwards? Just curious.

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Bleach. I think I need those souls now…

* * *

><p>The Lost Princess<p>

Chapter 2

She looked around her for the first time.

Hueco Mundo was nothing like she expected it to be. There wasn't a house, a road, or even a person around! Endless waves and dunes of white sand covered the land as far as she could see, which wasn't too far. Crystalline white trees had sprung up around the small, sandy clearing her brother had taken her to. The minor disturbance they had created kicked up a couple of puffs of sand, which were only now beginning to settle.

"Little one? How are you feeling?" her elder brother was worried. Why? She was only really, really hungry. Nothing too bad. At least it wouldn't be if she didn't want to sink her teeth into his face. Mmmm, she bet it tasted like steak and peanut butter. Just what she was craving at the moment.

"I'm so hungry Sora-nii! Where can I get some food? Do you think they have pancakes with ketchup?" she swore she could hear her stomach eating itself! It was just so hungry!

He shuddered. No more of her cooking. That was one brightside of being a hollow.

"We'll find you something, imoutou," he reassured, closing his eyes to search for a weaker hollow to devour. Spreading his sixth sense outward, he found a new hollow not too far from their location. This would help sate her newborn hunger, as well as get her to learn more about being a hollow. "This way," he started off towards the weak signature.

She followed just behind him with a grace she didn't know she possessed. Her body felt so light, so free! Although, her nails were kind of long and scary looking. Maybe she could use some nail-clippers here? Oh, but those clippers would have to be so big! Massive even! She could squish herself under those!

"Little one, be careful, stay here, and I will be right back," he interrupted her thoughts.

"Okay! See you soon!" she waved him off, as he disappeared into the trees around her. Her nails accidentally cut a few of the branches above her off the trees.

"Ouch! Ah, ouchies!" she wove in-between the falling branches and other debris she had mistakenly brought down. Her nails were a lot sharper than she had thought! She moved one towards a tree and put her index nail at the base. Applying a little pressure, she sliced through the trunk without fully intending to, causing her to fall over from the sudden lack of resistance. She squeaked in surprise as she felt her front hit the sand.

"Oh my! Much sharper than I thought!" she exclaimed out loud, looking at her new appendages. She also noticed her other eyes around her, unopened yet appearing to gaze at the same things she did. She instinctively knew they were eyes, but what they did she didn't quite know. If she was completely honest with herself, she realized she should have been more worried than she was currently. She was literally ripped away from everything she had previously known by the deceased spirit of her elder brother. Why had she not gone into a mental breakdown? Maybe it hadn't set in? It was as if she was missing something. Although, she was so very hungry! It was distracting her!

She thought over everything that had happened with her brother. He changed her, ripped her away from everything she knew in order to be her big brother again. He was lonely before, she could tell that much, yet he didn't ever tell her. She regretted that he had to watch her grow up without him and knew he had missed her. Understanding his reasons and realizing there was not way to go back to her human life now, she decided to forgive him. They were going to be spending eternity together, right?

She wondered where all the other hollows were though. After all, they were people even if they looked different, and people like to build cities. Oh! What kind of building would they have? Maybe they had really cool underground catacombs because they all looked like big white monsters! She and her brother sure looked like beasts or ghouls, so wouldn't others look like that too? What if they had secret parties on Fridays where they danced to the Monster Mash? She couldn't wait to go! They would be so much fun and they could play party games and-

Her daydream was cut short by a branch snapping.

"Well, what do we have here?" A malicious growl accompanied more crystal trees cracking.

Turning around, she feared for herself as she recognized another hollow. It was large, with gruesome teeth in a sinister smile. Large and fearsome, it resembled a bear with lethal modifications. No armor, but bulk enough to make up for it. Sharp claws on hands and feet as well as an elongated tongue scared her. The mask had rows of nasty teeth, saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth. It wasn't too intelligent, but it was large and intimidating.

"I'm sure you'll be perfect for my dinner! You just smell so _good_."

The first blow came without warning, but she managed to dodge it in time to avoid being decapitated.

She wasn't as lucky on the second blow. The bear caught her shoulder with his claws, in an attack that should have mauled her soft, pale skin.

It cut, blood flowing and staining her cloak a fresh red. She wanted to cry, to scream, to run away, but she was frozen at the sight of her own blood leaking from her wound. Even if it wasn't hurting too badly and she wasn't cut too deeply, she couldn't push past her fear, her terror of this thing.

It walked forward to her rigid, frozen form. It was almost a victory dance, as the hunter closed in on his prey. He quickly made his way to right next to her.

She could hear his breathing through his mask.

She nearly screamed being this close to the bear when she realized something. He smelt _fantastic_. Like a shark catching the scent of blood, she lunged at him, toppling him over with her newfound strength. Rational thought left her mind. Devoid of coherent thought, she split her mask along the only marking it had.

And it revealed _teeth_.

Sharp and tiny, she buried the threatening canines into its fur and ripped her head backwards.

It was delicious. There were no other words to describe it.

It was as if someone had replaced the need for air with the need to consume. She was hungry, hungrier than she ever was before. Without thinking she swallowed a piece of it whole. She needed more. More. MORE. It threw her off, across the clearing into a tree.

"You bitch! I'll kill you for this!" it cursed her, trying to regain its balance.

Her elongated nails leading the way, she dived for its crippled form, mouth open ready to take another piece to fill the void she felt. It managed to knock a hand aside, only to be skewered on the other as it sliced though its paw and into its chest. In its last act of defiance, it attempted to take her head off with its final swing. She jumped backwards to avoid the blow, then raced toward it again to eat her kill.

Its last words were more a mess of gurgling and growling than actual words.

She went to devouring before it had even finished. She quickly set to consuming what she could, starting with the unarmored torso and limbs. They went quickly and she relentlessly gobbled down every last piece until only the mask was left. Opening her mouth wide, the crunching and cracking of bone was what her consciousness began to return to. The hunger, the terrible biting hunger, was still lurking on the edge of her mind. It was obvious this one meal wasn't enough, even if it had made her feel better. She almost wanted to lick the blood spilt on the sand to get a taste of more…

"Little one?" her brother awoke the consciousness of Orihime instead of the hungry hollow there only seconds before.

She, kindhearted soul that she was, started crying over the bear hollow's demise.

Her brother stopped dragging the corpse of another, smaller, fallen hollow and ran to his sister's side.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he noticed the blood on her cloak's shoulder and the red staining the sand. "What hurt you?"

"I-I-" she started to sob again. She had killed it! She was a murderer! Pierced it through and fed on it. Oh. She had eaten a corpse. A person's corpse!

She began to dry heave, choking on her own spit within her mask.

"What happened little one?" he was concerned. If there was another hollow around, he would have to kill it in front of his baby sister. She wouldn't like that much, but he hadn't had the chance to explain what hollows were like yet.

"I ate it." She continued her sobbing until her brother held her tightly and told her four words that gave her hope, reassurance, and acceptance.

"I'm proud of you."

She held him tightly, careful not to touch him with her nails and lamented taking another's life. She cried until she was too tired to cry anymore. She wanted someone to tell her she was alright., that she wasn't terrible.

She looked at her brother and pitifully asked him, "What is a hollow? What am I Sora-nii?"

He looked back and began to tell her.

"Now, I am going to explain things, but feel free to ask on things you don't understand okay, little one?" She nodded and he continued. "We are hollows, fallen souls that now exist with a great deal of negative emotions. Fear, anger, malice, jealousy, and cruelty are a few of the more prominent emotions we are plagued by and most hollows lose all concept of their former humanity. I became a hollow because I was jealous of those people you called friends. I felt they were stealing you away from me and transformed. My jealousy was what caused me to crush your soul chain, your last link to living as a human." He paused here, guilt welling inside him. He would have to deal with it eventually, but until there was a safe time to do so, he would simply protect and guide his sister.

"So why aren't we mean hollows nii-san? Why don't I lose control with you? Or you eat me?" she asked.

"You are the reason I cling to my humanity. I want to protect my imoutou, for the rest of our time together. You are different because your hollow transformation went wrong, little one. That shinigami, the one with the large sword, had a massive amount of reiatsu you absorbed, similar to how a sponge absorbs water, during the change. It made you more powerful and would have continued to spur your growth had the pair not left when they did. You suffered great pain to become a creature that survives by eating the souls of others."

She gasped. She looked at him, pleading with him to make it untrue. She didn't like the idea.

"It is the only way for us to survive. The remaining spirit particles in Hueco Mundo help stabilize and fill that hunger you feel, but it will never be enough to keep you alive. Imoutou, you will have to consume others in order to survive."

"But they are people nii-san! People like us!" she protested. She was getting teary again, thinking about what she had done to the other hollow she had encountered.

"They aren't people anymore, little one. We aren't either. Most of them have forgotten about being human or good. As long as we remember to have human qualities, we will not be forced to live as wild beasts, driven by hunger. We have to eat to survive imoutou, but we will stay ourselves." He knew she wasn't entirely convinced, but would believe it because her brother had said it. He knew it was the only way to get her to eat ever again. He was a hollow, hell-bent on keeping them both alive.

"You mean, I will stop being me if I don't eat them?" she asked, hoping it wasn't true.

"Yes. The sad truth about hollows is that many of us are driven mad with hunger. All we can do is eat after we have completely lost our humanity. You felt it when you ate your first hollow. We don't have a choice imoutou and if we don't eat them, they will eat us," he replied. He led her the fallen form of the hollow he had brought back and the two of them prepared to eat it.

"Is there really no other way?" she whispered.

He didn't answer her. Instead he gave her the arm of the down hollow. She didn't say anything more, simply took a small bite. It was the first time they would had dinner together in several years.

"Nii-san?" she would never get tired of calling him that, now that she had him back.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Do you think it would be possible to cook this one with popcorn and mustard? Pretty please?" she pleaded. She wanted to distract herself from eating another hollow and thought of it as a type of ingredient for a dish.

He sighed, unaware of her thoughts. Even now, she didn't have a normal set of taste buds, he thought to himself. Besides, where did she think he was going to get popcorn?

* * *

><p>Okay. So, Orihime seems awfully accepting of this whole hollow shebang, right? Nope. She doesn't know any different. The <strong>only<strong> authority on any of this says she has to eat to survive. Okay, throw in that he's her **brother** (who may have made a selfish decision to make her a hollow) that had saved her from her abusive parents and basically raised her until his death. Point? She trusts him, as well as loves him, no matter what he has done. She only has family left and sure isn't going to be giving that up anytime soon.

So, drop a review if you please! Thanks for reading!

Monty


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: No, really. Bleach ain't mine. I promise it isn't.

The Lost Princess

Chapter 3

Sora was able to convince Orihime to eat other hollows. She didn't like it, but eventually became desensitized to it. After her awakening and introduction to the world of hollows in the forest, they began wandering and consuming any wayward hollows they came across in the vast sands. Orihime quickly found she had a talent for sensing other spiritual presences during their travels and found it was good for finding other hollows. The siblings would avoid the large and overwhelming predators Orihime could feel coming and find hollows that were about their level in strength to fight and feast on. Time was nonexistent in this world. The moon never changed, sun never came, yet darkness never encompassed the land. There were no days, no nights. The never slept, but kept wandering and eating, seemingly in a routine with no visible end. Time became irrelevant.

They both grew in power as they continued to eat the other hollows, eventually learning there was a place for stronger hollows, those who had resisted becoming menos grande and succumbing to the mindset of thousands of hollows. Those who did resist, who retained their minds and individuality, became adjuchas hollows. These were more powerful than the lowly gilian-class hollows that wandered where Orihime and her brother were trapped. They had found the path to cross into the other layer, but Orihime sensed several adjuchas waiting for any hollow to try and cross over, hoping to get an easy meal. Not wanting to be eaten, the siblings wandered elsewhere.

As they wandered, her brother had fought many battles. He seemed to want to protect her from fighting, as she had less armor than he did. He grew relatively quickly in power and honed the use of his acid abilities in battle. It could eat away at many hollows and their armor, including the stronger ones they had come to face. He had a lot of room to grow, but he was satisfied at his current level of strength as he could protect both Orihime and himself. Though if he was to be honest, she was more powerful than him at the moment. She was simply too naïve to be unbeatable in this forest.

Orihime on her part grew accustomed to combat. She was originally a pacifist, not wanting to hurt or harm any hollow they came across until it was hostile to her brother. She fought only to protect her family, or to ensure their continued survival. Tatsuki had trained her in martial arts when she was human and she retained most of those skills as a hollow, but was reluctant to use them. She quickly grew accustomed to her speed and sword-like nails, as well as her reiatsu. Her other eyes remained closed and simply followed her about. She never found that she had a special ability like her brother. She was simply an ordinary hollow, with more reiatsu than normal.

She had no idea what kind of power she had, until one day they found themselves heading towards a group of lesser hollows all entering the human world in one place. The fact that they weren't fighting was odd, but the fact that none of them had tried to consume each was far stranger. Grouped in a valley of sand, with two high dunes on either side, the two siblings hid behind the closest and watched the scene below.

"What do you think is going on nii-san?" she asked. She was nervous about this whole phenomenon. Her gut feelings were usually right, but she could tell her brother was considering going down there to see what had happened.

"You smell that? I think that's bait of some kind. It's somewhere in the human world. We seem to be pretty immune to it, but we have eaten recently," he responded.

"Bait? So why are they all here? Shouldn't they have already gone to the human world then?" she wondered aloud.

"Not exactly, sometimes the fabric between world is thinner depending on the location. It takes less reiatsu to travel to the other planes in these spots, which is why weak hollows tend to gather around them. You wouldn't know this because we haven't traveled back to the human world," he responded.

She looked towards the gathering, " So, that's the easiest place to get into the human world? Where does it let out?"

"I don't know, little one. Most hollows can travel back to the human plane easily, as well as control where they end up. These are either young or too weak to do that. They have lost all sense in favor of a quick meal," he looked over at her.

"So, what should we do?" she didn't like the idea of all those hollows eating souls in the human world. Eating hollows was one thing, but humans were not something she would ever allow herself to consume.

He sighed.

"You want to stop them from going to the other side." He made it a statement, not a question.

"You know me too well, nii-san! We can't let them make the humans into an all-you-can-eat buffet!" she was concerned, although a picture formed in her mind. A hollow, with what looked like a lobster bib and large utensils, was drooling over a pair of people with lobster claws and antennae. They were sad that they were going to be eaten and screamed out to her to save them. Help us, Orihime! Save us, Orihime! She twitched, as she moved to save them.

"Little one, focus!" her brother snapped her out of her daydream, as he always did when her imagination started to run wild.

"Okay! Sorry!" she grinned back at him, attempting to ground herself in reality. He was about to scold her for not paying more attention to their surroundings when he felt the energy around the conglomerate of minor hollows began to change. Their spiritual energy began to bleed into one another, creating a massive burst of wind and sand. A rip into the very fabric of the dimensions was created, revealing the wounded body of a menos grande retreating towards them.

Its large, lengthy body was marred by a wicked and jagged slice from its shoulder to torso. It was running from something more powerful than itself, returning to gain back strength and recover. It's wounded cry escaped from its open jaw as it closed the portal to the human realm. Swiftly, it took to eating the large gathering of hollows to recover lost strength. The sound of broken armor and wet drops of fresh blood assaulted them. It was almost finished with the weaker hollows and would need more to consume in order to recover from its wounds.

"Nii-san! We need to go!" she was afraid, knowing the massive hollow would come after them next. They couldn't hide from something this big and hungry.

"I know! Go!" He pushed her away from the dune and began their sprint away from the massacre.

Luck was not on their side as the movement alerted the menos to their presence. They were much more fit to be a meal, even if they were much stronger than the normal hollow on its diet. It rushed to intercept them, kicking up sand and dirt as it gave chase.

"It's after us!" she whimpered, afraid of being eaten.

"I know! Keep running! We might be able to lose it in the forests!" Sora grabbed her arm and pushed her in front of him. He quickly turned around and realized the monster was catching up to them, with no signs of stopping or slowing. Making a quick and reckless decision, he stopped running and prepared to spit acid at it to slow it down.

Orihime, having felt him stop running, came to a halt and turned around. "Nii-san! Hurry! We need to go!"

"Keep running Orihime!" he called back, refusing to even turn around.

"Nii-san?" It was closer to him now, the hunter preparing to pounce on its prey. He stared it down, defiant even in the face of its gaping jaws and hungry moan.

"GO!"

"But-!" There was no more speaking, as only a startled gasp escaped her lips when her brother launched acid into its mouth. The behemoth veered off course, clamping its teeth shut and colliding with the sand next to Sora.

"Little one, run! Don't look back!"

"But nii-san-" she began to run towards him.

"Stay away!" She flinched at his tone. He turned towards her, ignoring the monstrosity regaining its senses and focusing on him. "Go now! Get out of here!" He swung his arms wide, his mask was bared in a feral snarl. "I don't need your help! Just get away!"

The menos had recovered at this point and had used his distraction to get closer. It long nose cast a shadow over his form and opened its mouth again in preparation to swallow its snack whole.

"NO! Nii-san look out!" Her warning came a second too late.

He faced the monster towering over him and attempted to scramble out of the way. Its teeth caught his arm and with a sickening crunch, separated it from his body. Blood flowed freely from his wound and colored the sand below him crimson as he stood his ground and aimed acid once again at the mask, which was once again close enough to hit. The sizzle and pop sounds coming from the menos were disturbing, yet enraged the creature once again as it lunged to destroy him.

Time seemed to slow, but was too horrifyingly fast.

She watched as the deformed mask of the menos, mouth wide open, was poised to obliterate her brother.

The eerie crimson glow, steadily becoming blinding, outlined Sora's mangle shape.

Her eyes could only gape at the death of her brother, happening right in front of her.

She could make out a shrill, pain-laden cry choked and warped by the flurry of emotions within it. She then realized it was her own desperate screams she heard.

Her arms were extended, her body rushing to him, futilely attempting to reach him in time.

He smiled.

"I love you, little one."

The world stopped. She blinked and everything faded into grey.

* * *

><p>"No."<p>

It couldn't be. He couldn't be. It can't. It can't. Her breathing was heavy, pants coming out short and harsh.

"No."

A dim light, muted with pink and cream, seemed to be the only thing she could see. Not the sands. Not the blood. Not her brother.

Wait.

She couldn't hear anything. It was quiet. There were no rushing sands. No soft sifting, or muted crunch of the grains that covered Hueco Mundo. Nothing.

That was very odd. She realized she had her eyes (eye?) closed. She wasn't sure if she wanted to open them and face the unknown. It could mean he was dead. She couldn't handle that. She couldn't deal with his death a second time. It would be too much. She couldn't lose everything again. She couldn't!

"Well then, are you going to open them or not?"

"Them?" she squeaked.

"Yes. The things that grant all creatures with sight. Things that receive optic sensory information. Ojos. _Eyes_."

Tentatively, she opened one eye, followed by the other. She could see a massive throne room, one once bathed in splendor and opulence. Now however, it was broken as the collapsed ceiling let harsh, bright light into the chamber. Rubble was scattered about the floor and it seemed to have been abandoned for a long time as various plants and vines sprawled the floor and crawled up the walls. The once white marble floors were now a mixture of dirty brown and dusty grey. Faded paintings and depictions along the walls made her heart ache, as someone had once cared so much for this beautiful place that was now in ruins. Doorways and grand, elaborate frames were collapsed, sealing off their destinations. Her attention was quickly drawn away when the voice interrupted her.

"Well ma'am, ya can't be mute too! Say something!" it came from the direction of the throne.

It was a very simple kind of throne, she thought. High backing, white in color, but also destroyed in some places. She felt it was fragile, but something that should have been strong, a position of power and confidence. It hadn't had anyone sit in it for a long time she realized.

"Uh, hello?"

"Finally! Sheesh! We've been waitin' forever for ya!" it was childish and girly. It came from a small fairy creature. Tiny wings adorned her back, bathed in a sunshine colored glow. She had a sundress, also in the near-blinding yellow, and blonde pigtails flew backwards as she rushed towards Orihime.

"I-I'm sorry! I'll be quicker next time?" She responded.

"Nah! I'm just so happy you're here!" she twirled in mid-air.

"I am too?" Orihime was slightly confused. What was going on?

"Oh! I'm sorry! I've been so happy you came to see us I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Joy!" She nearly burst with excitement.

"It's very nice to meet you Joy," she replied. "I'm-"

"I know who you are, silly! So does everyone else, but that's cause we've been with you always!" she spread her arms wide, as if trying to demonstrate how long they had been with her.

"Always?"

"Yep, that's like, forever."

"And, uh, everyone else?"

"They're behind the throne. We were gonna come out when you called us, but I really was happy to see you."

"Damn it Sunshine! You think you could stick to the plan once? Just once!" Another voice came from behind the throne. It was masculine, strong and with a lower pitch. Five fairies came from their hiding spots behind the throne. Each was dominated by a different color; red, blue, green, orange, and finally purple.

"Oh, stop being so grumpy!" she pouted.

"What did you say, brat?" He was a bit larger than Joy, but was much more aggressive. He was clothed in what maroon pants and matching shirt, with a vivid crimson scarf around his back. His glow matched his hair, and was a deep red. She was shocked to find he was pulling Joy's pigtails.

"Ouchies! Don't do that!"

"Next time follow the plan!"

"But- But-"

"No! You will follow the plan! Say it with me: 'I will always follow the plan, especially when Chagrin tells you to!' Right?"

"Ah, um, Chagrin? Please don't do that. You're making a bad first impression," the timid purple fairy quietly spoke. A large purple blanket covered her, obscuring her face from view. Her long dark hair flowed over her violet kimono and she hid behind the orange fairy as she spoke. "I don't want to make a bad first impression…"

"Shut up, Dismay! Sunshine here needs to be taught a lesson!" He went to pull harder on her hair, when he was stopped by the wail of the smallest fairy in the group.

"D-don't d-do it!" she got out between sobs and hiccups. She was almost an exact copy of Joy, except her entire aura was blue. She was about to burst into tears again, when the green fairy separated the two causing problems.

"Now listen here!" He held one on each side. "No more causing problems. Chagrin, move away from Joy."

Surprisingly, he did just that, even if he was grumbling about it the whole way.

"Joy! Go stop Mel from crying!"

"Okie dokie!" She immediately went to console the blue fairy.

"And Dismay? Don't worry, everything will be fine." The purple fairy nodded, but continued to hide behind her orange counterpart. Orihime was confused at all these new fairies, but at the same time was thrilled to see them. The chaos was preventing her from forming many thoughts, as she was shocked by the appearance of the little group.

The green fairy, who seemed to be in charge of the motley group, was dressed in traditional male yukata in a shade of forest green. He seemed to radiate a type of peace, as well as kindness and acceptance. Orihime was glad this one had taken control of the situation.

"I am sorry you had to meet us like this Orihime," he began. She swung her hands back and forth trying to assure him it was completely okay.

"Not at all! I mean, I would be excited to meet me too! Err, ah, I mean, I would be happy and excited to meet someone too! I love meeting new people and…" she trailed off, embarrassed by her actions.

"Well, in that case, we should introduce ourselves," he responded. "I am Trust."

"I am Chagrin, girlie," the red fairy stated, "And don't you forget it."

"I am, um, D-dismay," the small purple fairy spoke from behind her orange protector.

"I am Aversion," the large auburn fairy stated. He was dressed in long pants and matching shirt. He was bulky, almost massive compared to the others. His quiet presence seemed stabilizing as well.

"I'M JOY!" The smiling fairy re-introduced herself. "Oh and this here's Melancholy. But we call her Mel for short," she said pointing her blue twin, who simply sniffled and nodded.

"It's nice to meet you all. My name is-"

"We all know who you are ma'am!" Joy bounded over to her and sat on her shoulder.

"Joy is correct. We have always known you. We have always been with your soul," Trust elaborated. "We are different now though, we changed with you."

"Changed with me?" she asked, confused.

They seemed to understand her confusion and trust began to speak again. "We were your power, concealed within your soul while you were living. We have always been with you. But you changed with your Hollowification. We changed as well, taking on the characteristics of your primary emotions. Instead of becoming truly negative, as most hollows do, you retained everything because we became your emotions."

"You're my feelings? I feel much more than just six emotions though!"

"Of course you do girlie!" Chagrin was right in front of her face, and pulled a lock of her hair to force her to focus on him. "We are the core emotions! We mix, we combine, we change. We make up the building blocks for everything you feel. So be grateful, understand?"

"What he is trying to say Orihime, is that we guard your soul. We protect what is 'Orihime', including the emotions and personality of 'Orihime'." Trust continued, "We don't remember what we were before you became a hollow, but it doesn't matter. We are you Orihime. And we will protect your soul, your mind, and your new body."

She was overwhelmed by the conviction present in those words. The sentiment seemed to be shared through the group, showing their determination to stay with her and protect her. She was a part of them, and they were pieces of her. So why had she not met them before? What was going on here? Why was she in this place?

Her brother!

She had to get back to him!

Her panic must have shown on her face as Dismay spoke to her, "Don't worry, um, he's f-fine." She swiftly moved to tug on Orihime's sleeve. Orihime's eyes widened, as Dismay continued, "W-we can, ah, still s-save him…If you want?"

"Of course I do! I need to help him! I need to get back!" She was still slightly panicked, but was soon relieved as Aversion calmly flew towards her and tapped her forehead.

"Time does not pass here. We are rushing to his aid still, but have not moved forward as the creature has not yet harmed him."

"Oh. And it won't move?" she questioned.

"No."

"Oh. We have some things to talk about then, don't we?" She realized as Joy began to lead her to the throne.

"Of course we do! Now sit down and we can get started! There's so much to do!"

"So, um, where do we begin?" She asked, looking at the manifestation of her emotions. Each stared back at her, ready to ask questions and give answers. To teach her who she had become, to give her guidance on what she wanted to be.

She was about to come face to face with her true self, without masks, without doubts, and without reservations.

It was the only way she could save her brother, she thought.

She didn't know it was the only was to save herself as well.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, third chapter is out. Now, there will be much more of the explaining in the next chapter, you can count on it. This is mainly because I want to describe how the Shun Shun Rikka has changed based on Orihime's situation. This will be because she is no longer human, but still retains a great deal of her humanity. The main point for now is that she has a set of emotion-based powers, even if they still relate to the rejection of phenomenon. This I have a lovely little plan for, but you all may have to wait for quite a bit. ;)<p>

Anyways, like or dislike, drop a review please! Feedback is important! This writer wants to hear from you! Yes YOU!

Thanks, Monty.


End file.
